Latest Migrant workers News

Crews at Baltimore bridge collapse continue meticulous work of removing twisted steel and concrete

Mar. 31, 2024 17:48 PM EDT

BALTIMORE (AP) — As divers assisted crews with the complicated and meticulous operation of removing the steel and concrete from the fallen Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, some near the site took time on Easter Sunday to reflect on the six workers presumed to have plunged to their deaths. ...

Migrant workers who helped build modern China have scant or no pensions, and can't retire

Mar. 29, 2024 01:14 AM EDT

BEIJING (AP) — At 53, Guan Junling is too old to get hired at factories anymore. But for migrant workers like her, not working is not an option. For decades, they have come from farming villages to find work in the cities. Toiling in sweatshops and building apartment complexes they...

US farms are increasingly reliant on contract workers who are acutely exposed to climate extremes

Mar. 19, 2024 10:25 AM EDT

Six years ago, Illinois farmer John Ackerman didn't hire any contract workers at all. Now he typically hires about 22 every year through a local coordinator that helps farmers hire crews of agriculturally skilled, often Latino workers. Those teams hand-weed the soybeans Ackerman grows alongside the...

North Carolina labor chief rejects infectious disease rule petitions for workplaces

Mar. 14, 2024 14:39 PM EDT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s elected labor commissioner has declined to adopt rules sought by worker and civil rights groups that would have set safety and masking directives in workplaces for future infectious disease outbreaks like with COVID-19. Commissioner Josh...

What to watch for as China's major political meeting of the year gets underway

Mar. 03, 2024 11:14 AM EST

BEIJING (AP) — One burning issue dominates as the 2024 session of China's legislature gets underway this week: the economy. The National People's Congress annual meeting, which opens Tuesday, is being closely watched for any signals on what the ruling Communist Party might do to...

Many in Myanmar consider fleeing to Thailand to escape conscription into an army they despise

Feb. 24, 2024 03:43 AM EST

BANGKOK (AP) — Thwel, a 25-year-old schoolteacher, saw very few options left to her after Myanmar’s military announced it is implementing conscription to fill its ranks. “As a person living in this country, I only have two options: to go abroad illegally or die here,” Thwel...

Post-World Cup, Qatar is pressing ahead with labor reforms but concerns for migrant workers remain

Feb. 10, 2024 08:10 AM EST

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — When Qatar hosted the World Cup a little over a year ago, the wealthy emirate faced intense scrutiny over its human rights record, especially the treatment of migrant workers who helped build the glitzy stadiums. The issue has faded to the background as Qatar...

AP PHOTOS: A decade ago, the Sochi Olympics saw Russia's soft power collide with hard realities

Feb. 07, 2024 10:36 AM EST

The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics were President Vladimir Putin's pet project as he sought to expand Russia's global clout, boost its prestige and impress the world. But the Kremlin's attempt at soft power soon collided with hard realities. It became the most expensive...

UN migration agency seeks $7.9 billion to help people on the move and the communities that host them

Jan. 22, 2024 06:55 AM EST

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.'s migration agency is launching its first “global appeal,” seeking $7.9 billion to help people on the move and ensure smoother pathways to migration, at a time when the fallout from climate change, conflict and both economic distress and opportunities has caused...